Blogging for the Future

Blogs are a nice idea when one thinks about them. Ideas that one writes down so that others can read, but I wonder how many people will actually read a library blog. I just do not see them as being a highly popular item that librarians should use as tools. Potentially a programming blog might be worthwhile, but even then, is it worth the time and effort. The question becomes if blogs are an actual sustainable tool or a passing fad. I feel they are a passing fad.

Tracking and Apple

With all of this bad press about Apple and tracking, one has to wonder how people let them get away with personal information privacy invasion. Whether this information is to be used for advertising purposes or worse, no one knows and really should not care. Yes, complete information control is a scary thing, but the end goal is not necessarily the issue. It is the fact that there is technology out there that can gather everything about people. It is also that people seem to not care at all. I am not saying people need to throw away everything Apple related (or Android) but should remain aware and vocal about not letting technology do this.

Net Neutrality

Congress wants to eliminate Net Neutrality and say the FCC has no power over it. This could be unfortunate for regular users of the internet, for this eliminates the potential of an equal internet. Though right away there might not be a difference, this sets up a future of unequal internet.

CSS

Using the external CSS had been tough at first, but I figured it out and was really proud of myself. At first I thought I would need help from a Ms. Rachael Troianos, butttttt I figured it out before she could get there. I am very happy that i was able to accomplish this on my own. What a feat!

Amazon and Kindle

As libraries start looking at Kindles to use in libraries (or ebooks in general) Amazon comes out with a Kindle that is cheaper but includes advertising. As a staunch anticapitalist and library advocate, I could not say that this is something libraries should invest in. Yet, at the same time I can see it be appealing for libraries to get to be involved in the market of ebooks. I hope that this will force people to realize that e-readers are cheap and that there should be ways of providing them to places that need them (i.e. libraries) for a cheap price.

GoogleArt

Google has made a GoogleArts section of their website. They are working with art museums and historical communities. For me, I wonder how this will relate with the problems with GoogleBooks and copyright concerns. I guess we will see, but for me it is another way Google is taking over the information fields, rather than helping or accompanying them.

Google social networking 2.0

With two losses going googles way, with being fined by the FTC for privacy concerns with Google Buzz and a loss with the google books. Google hopes that their new social networking will attract Facebook users as google and Facebook are rivals in recent times. Will people such as Rachael Troianos actually jump to google's +1? we will see.

Website building

It is great that I am going to be building a website. I have actually been interested in doing this for a while now and finally have a free page to do those on. It will be helpful for the future and possibl lead me to buying a cheap domain so that in the future I can have my own website. Let's just hope my project looks good

Phones as Credit Cards

Hopefully less people will be losing there phone or breaking it. Though a far way from becoming a replacement for credit cards, smart phones will now be able to be swiped and used as a credit card. Though the article I read stated that this has already been adopted overseas, it seems the one usual suspect is keeping this technology back from use in the United States. Yes, that would be major corporate players all trying to get as much money as they can out of this technology. Who will control it? The phone carriers, the credit card companies, the banks, payment networks, technology companies...I guess once this is figured out we can reach this new millennium of no wallet necessary but not yet.

New York Times Online Now for Paying

As the New York Times online has posted the new plan for payment options, one has to wonder where they will leave libraries. Will libraries get a discount rate or a bulk rate? I have not read anything about this, well because it is a fairly new system. There are many people who get their news from the New York Times and barring any kind of feelings on whether this is a good move or not, one has to wonder if more people will be expecting the libraries to have these subscriptions. If a library has a subscription to the print form then they will get online privileges, but does this mean as many computers as they want or is it a one to one ratio?

Technology on the New York Times

If you look at the New York Times all the rage surrounds the iPad2 these days and in what seems unanimous appeal, the iPad2 is the winner in the race for most articles and no one knows why. My favorite part to reading this section is that most people do not know why they are writing about this, but they are. There is even an article talking about the whole appeal to the iPad being about emotions and attachments. I think the iPad is a fine tool to have, in addition to netbooks, I never got the extreme need of netbooks, but at the same time I am sure having one could provide you with a handy tool. At the same time I find it silly to spend all of one section as well as news sections devoted to a device, no matter how cool or thin.

GPS and Library Books

A lot of thought has been going into the idea of having GPS technology put into libraries, specifically books. I think there is a big benefit of this technology, though I do not know the cost analysis and if it is actually worth the price. If the price was right then I think this would be a great investment for libraries to have. The ability to help people locate books on their own would be great and give librarians time to do other things, also if a book is lost then there is the potential to figure out where it is. Though, if a book is stolen or missing, what would be proper protocol for finding it anyways unless it was on library premises. This technology can also lead to having programming in libraries that use the gps service, which might have some interesting results. Overall, I would have to be in support of this type of research and potential, with ebooks becoming popular, this is a good way to relate both old technologies (books, etc) and new technologies (smart phones, etc).

Free Speech and the Internet

As guardians of free speech and long time defenders of free speech (which includes checking out materials) librarians need to figure out a way to deal with the internet within libraries and protecting free speech still. This goes for searches, downloads and other materials. Also, with sites like Twitter and Facebook, that do not guarantee free speech, do they pose issues or threats that need to be dealt with. Whereas some US corporations on the internet say they protect free speech on the web, others do not. Is this an area of programming that would be good to do. Is it necessary to know what sites provide a "free speech" platform and what do not.

Devices and the Internet

The iPad2 was shown recently and Steve Jobs came back to do the honors. It seems as if the iPad2 is going for the end all be all tablet focusing heavily on being an easy communication device as well as being able to haul it around anywhere. There is no real competition out there even compared by price and what you get. While I am not promoting Apple or the iPad in anyway it will be interesting to see how they control the market in the tablet market and how this will effect libraries. Obviously people will bring in these devices to libraries and either want help with them or have some kind of question in regards to an iPad.

Metadata

It's been interesting doing the past couple assignments and working on cataloguing in some ways and metadata. It is nice that even if there are parts I do not know what to put in, recognizing all of the different organizational values that we can attribute to books. On top of all this is all the social media and different linguistic metadata we can subscribe to a book. It seems to me that there are probably endless ways people can categorize books, according to preference. I feel libraries do an acceptable job at the moment, but do know that certain parts of libraries (kids sections) will now categorize in an easier to find way, mostly by subject matter. That is definitely a good way to do it as well and shows that people are thinking about this and how to make books and other materials easier to find.

Tumblr

I have to use Tumblr for another class and I find it obnoxious. I tried finding value in the site for a library but can find no purpose. It's worse than twitter except you can possibly reach out to kids in some potential way. It feels like a hip site that will be outdated fairly soon and will not have the hold of Facebook or even blitzing. I could be wrong and will keep my mind open but as of now find no use for libraries.

The Internet and Battles

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-12479660

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9386720.stm

While these articles are much different in both subjects and reason, they both hint at the fact that the internet is revered as a great invention, yet brings about problems. Some huge problems and some small problems. As in the first article we see research presented on how Facebook causes stress in people, rather than being a celebratory website of sharing information with friends and letting people into your virtual life, we see kids getting stressed out by Facebook. Of course those that get stressed the most are those that use it the most and keep up with it the most, feeling the need to update their own. Yet, everyone who uses Facebook finds themselves in some situation of feeling guilt, or angry or sad over updates of people they may or may not know. Instead of dealing with these feelings with others, or with those that actually are sharing the information, we are becoming isolated.

The second article deals more with attacks on internet freedom and the idea of living in a world that is trying to silence or take away the freedoms that the internet holds.

It is important as librarians to follow these patterns, stick up for what we believe in and explain our reasoning to patrons.

eBooks and Libraries

It will be an interesting time for sure to see when eBooks take a stronghold over libraries I am not going to predict when but feel that it will be a reality at some point. I wonder if cataloging will change at all or search features to make way for a new style of categorizing materials. It also will be a problem with lending books and how to go about doing this, can you give materials to people without an actual way of reading them.

The Church and The Iphone Apps

It is accepted by the Catholic Church, of course we are not talking about any actual progressive measures that the Church should take and be outspoken about, we are talking about the iPhone application entitled Confession. What a day that the church will still not accept gay marriage but embrace a piece of technology that in reality is just plain stupid. Hoping to increase catholics to confess as well as see an actual priest, the church thinks this is a good step to take. It seems as if the pope is an Apple fan, I wonder how many times he has used this. Oh and by the way, this is not a free application for all of those wishing to get dirt off their shoulders for free, it is $2.

Social Tagging and Social Media

I have been using a program called Glogster for another class where we make a Glog to present an author to our class, that kids should read. Glogging is actually an easy (though limited) way for kids or librarians to make posters or presentations that will appeal to kids for programming.

In terms of Social Tagging and media, I feel that libraries need to embrace these modalities in some way. Whether or not libraries want to be a space for learning or a cultural emporium, we still want and need people to come. I feel that libraries are changing (at least some) to be a more representative space of the people. Social tagging can still go hand in hand with having a respected method of searching and organizing, but can be an add-on. Or you can have a search by the usual method, social tagging. If libraries are going to be vehemently against this idea then there needs to be more programming for all ages talking about why and how to best use search and cataloging functions. While I have certain attitudes about people in general and a libraries need to change as well, I definitely am more for having a library be a representation of the community it is in.

Libraries and Technology

I find that Jing/some sort of web broadcast might be a fun way to make commercials for programming for libraries. Then you can embed it in a website or blog that is used, or even put it up on facebook. In addition to a poster this could be an exciting way to get people to come to an event. I also think that jing could be fun to use in programming for kids and using it to make book reviews, digital stories, an endless amount of visual elements that can be really fun and help in the learning process.

Zotero Presentation

This is Ian Baran's Zotero introduction video. I have told you how to download and install zotero and then completed it by registering. Thanks!



The link is at:
http://www.screencast.com/t/CefDbs66A3G

Egypt and Technology

It is interesting to have read that Egypt shut down the internet to deny protesters the ability to keep in communication through the use of the internet. This is something that the United States have debated in having as well, a kill switch that the President has in order to shut down the internet. I wonder what it would take to do that in the United States. I find it terrible that a president can have such power and that it was used in Egypt, especially in a time that many people see as a tyrannical power position by the president. Without getting into the politics of the matter, I still find the power that the government can have over such communication to be a huge issue. It also calls into question what other powers major corporations and governments can have over such a system that is widely used and a major form of communication if not THE most widely used medium for communicating with others, for political and non-political reasons.

The Blogosphere and I

I find it not hard but weird to keep a blog at this point. I feel that blogs can fall into the world of unnecessary but can also be super necessary to a job. I feel weird updating a blog about my life or thoughts as opposed to how I would feel updating a blog for a job. Maybe it is because these blogs hardly get read or just because it is about myself. Whereas if this was a job where people read it, be it book reviews, library happenings, etc I would find it easier to update. I feel that I do not fit in the blog world in terms of writing about myself of experiences, it's not that I do not have any (though that is up for contention) but more that I prefer in person communication when referring to my life. This happens in all different realms, phone conversations, emails. In letters even I find it hard to write about my life. But this might be a good introductory to managing a blog and realizing how to keep one updated weekly.

Refworks and Me

Though not hard, I found the refworks assignment to be fairly tedious. I understand the purpose of Refworks and think it can be an efficient and good tool to use, yet at the same time I feel that I will continue to write out my citations by hand, or typed by myself. Maybe my problem was finding sources to allowed you to export it easily, and therefore the lack of unanimity by sources to use the same bibliographic tool (refworks, bibex, etc.). I still would find it easier to write these out at the moment, it also gives me a good understanding of the guidelines of annotation be it APA or Chicago. The assignment did teach me how to best use refworks which is a good thing and nice to know.

The Firefox Awaits

It's nice to be using Firefox again though it seems to go a little slower on the mac I have. I just switched to a Mac computer and though I would not call myself a "mac guy" it is a nice little laptop. Yet, when I switched a couple months back (and switched from a pc to a laptop) I stopped using firefox in lieu of safari. I will say I think Firefox is better for the most part, maybe it is just something about me to side with Firefox but I feel it is the best of the internet browsers. It was always better than using Internet Explorer and I still think it is mostly better than Safari. It is nice to be learning about different add-ons because I never explored this realm on my own.

Furthering My Thoughts Upon 2600

It will be exciting to learn more about computer programming for both my future jobs but also because I am finally able to talk to most of my undergraduate friends. In my undergrad I was the outsider because most of my friends were doing computer science or engineering and I was always taking english or social science classes. It will be good to finally know some of what they are talking about, though now they are going to be even more light years away. Reading the book and articles for class has been helpful and I can talk to the kids I know in their language a little

The Snow Hits before Linux

I am excited to know a bit more about Linux, though I might not learn the right amount to run Linux, it should be interesting to know more. Though I knew that companies like Mac and Microsoft deal in shady business, it is funny to hear out loud how they all stole ideas off of another. This class should hopefully provide some good history and content to display a sort of knowledge about information technology and systems which will be nice for me to have. Other than that alls my technology (this blog and email) are getting the jobs done for what they need to be.

The Beginning; OR The Exciting World of Information Technologies Pt. 1

This is the first post for Intro to Information Technologies. I assume I will have more to write about in the future as I learn more in this class. I feel that this will be an important class to know for my future as a librarian. This will be a good introduction to using different technologies to further that cause. This blog will serve, I suppose, as a journal and adventure into this world and also be an experience in using the internet to relay information we have. How great. Post over.